Opinion

Ebola response was too slow

THE United Nations and aid agencies have been expressing frustration at the failure of the international community to offer the sort of swift and comprehensive response needed to combat the Ebola outbreak in west Africa.

Indeed, it seems the west has only become interested in this issue since cases were reported in the United States and Spain, offering the terrifying prospect of a deadly and highly infectious virus taking hold in the developed world.

The reaction of the US and UK governments to this development was telling. Within days security measures had been introduced at airports to screen travellers from affected countries.

Yet this was a crisis which has been building for months.

The first serious outbreak was in Guinea earlier this year but by the summer it had moved from rural areas to cities, making it extremely difficult to quarantine cases.

In addition, the affected regions had few doctors and totally inadequate resources while certain cultural practices meant that more people were exposed to infection.

However, during these weeks when the number of cases was growing rapidly, the rest of the world seemed to think it was an African problem and nothing to do with them.

As a result, opportunities were missed to bring this outbreak under control at source and now more than 4,500 people are dead, a toll that will undoubtedly climb in the days and weeks ahead.

Former UN secretary general Kofi Annan has been highly critical of the international response, saying the world only woke up when the disease got to America and Europe.

It is difficult to argue with that view although questions have to be asked of the World Health Organisation which did not declare a full-scale crisis until last month.

Help is now on the way but it is late and still not enough.

Governments need to move quickly to deliver medical supplies and clinical staff.

Doctors, nurses and aid workers have been putting themselves at enormous risk for months and many have lost their lives.

Their bravery and commitment stands in contrast to the inaction of governments who failed to recognise the gravity of the situation.

Meanwhile, the Republic's health minister has confirmed aid workers returning to Ireland from affected countries will be monitored for signs of Ebola and there is a responsibility generally on people travelling from west Africa to report any symptoms.

The health authorities in Britain and Ireland are putting procedures in place to deal with any cases.

Hopefully, these measure will not be needed but we have to be prepared.